


(glimpses through the) window of opportunity

by In_The_Gardens_of_Inspiration



Series: (making/breaking the) window of opportunity [2]
Category: Bleach, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Look at Beatdown Scene, Assault, Character Study, Gen, In the first chapter, Minor Violence, Mugging, No-Holds-Barred Beatdown - 5 vs 1, POV Outsider, Retribution of Assault, in the fourth chapter, in the second chapter, in the third chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21997669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_The_Gardens_of_Inspiration/pseuds/In_The_Gardens_of_Inspiration
Summary: A collection of scenes that don't fit into the main body of '(defenestrate the) window of opportunity'.i. on Ichigo  -  [posted]ii. voices versus  -  [posted]iii. #itsnotvigilatismifitsselfdefense  -  [posted]iv. aizawa and the what the hell just happened - [pasted and in edit mode]
Relationships: Hollow Ichigo & Kurosaki Ichigo & Kyouka Suigetsu & Muramasa & Murciélago & Zangetsu, Kurosaki Ichigo & Midoriya Inko, Kurosaki Ichigo & Midoriya Inko & Midoriya Izuku, Kurosaki Ichigo & Midoriya Izuku
Series: (making/breaking the) window of opportunity [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583485
Comments: 13
Kudos: 411





	1. i. on Ichigo

**I.**  
If anything, Ichigo's power, his quirk, should be Adaptability.  
  
The way he faces every new challenge, every new enemy, every new power.

Adapt.  
Learn.  
Grow.

In a world where the dead held more power than the living, but the living had more potential than the dead, being a child of both worlds, and being a child of many bloodlines, many abilities, being adaptable was Ichigo's only chance to live, survive and protect.  
  
It's here, in another world where the dead have no power, but Ichigo has theirs anyway, that he finds new boundaries for the power, powers, that flow through his veins, settle on, settle beneath, his skin.

Adapt.

Yes, and overcome.

Rise above, a testament to will that drives Ichigo to protect his own, a testament to change, growth and reaching potential.


	2. ii. voices versus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scene, the myth, the legend!
> 
> This is the scene that started it all- yes. The first ever scene ever conceptualized for '(defenestrate the) window of opportunity'!

**II.**  
Between naming his quirk and the Sludge Villain Incidents™, there's only the one time that he's caught unaware by some common criminal.  
  
( _Only once, after that, Ichigo strives to be constantly aware of his surroundings and his company._ )  
  


* * *

  
It goes like this:  
  
  
Ichigo has a day off from school, and the Midoriyas are having a family day.  
  
He turns down the invitation from Izuku, stating that he's taking up enough of the other boy's time, and that he should catch up with his mom. He's not cruel about it, but still, Izuku cries a bit. Ichigo knows that family and family bonds are so important, so he wants to make sure Izuku's bond with his mother doesn't suffer because of anything, _especially_ because of Ichigo.

So, yeah, Ichigo's in a bit of a funk, but that's nothing a nice, relaxing day out won't fix, right?  
  
He'll go out, walk to work through his feelings, pick up groceries, maybe a manga, and go home to relax.

Nice. Simple. Easy.

  
~~\--------~~

  
_There was a plan, once._

_It was a nice plan._

_Sweet, simple, hard to fudge._   
  
  


_**Too** _simple, _**too** _nice, _**too** _idyllic for a chaos magnet for Ichigo, he really should have known better. ( ~~ _It's not that bad in the end, honest._~~ )  
  
  
It's somewhere near two in the afternoon, and it's still a lovely day.  
  
Ichigo's been shopping already, and. just didn't want to sit.  
  
So he went back out, it was a nice day, after all. Why not make the most of it?

( _Why not, indeed._ )  
  


  
  
The thing is, in this world, aside from the hair, there's really nothing about Ichigo that stands out at first glance.  
  
(Apparently, this guy, _who you all will be introduced to in a momen_ t, really has it out for redheads, kids or both.)  
  
  
  
Sasai Susumu, pickpocket, thief and all around bastard.

With a quirk like his, Blinkstep, he could rob you blind and be down the street in less time it took to, well, blink. His addictions really don't help his case, either.

Add in his general surly, bastardly, disposition, and willingness to do violence for money, well... 

  
This led to him having a rep sheet like, 3.5 feet long. ( _And also his being scouted for a membership to the all-new, exclusive villains' club: The League of Villains._ )  
  
Yeah....  
  
( ~~ _So that's bad news._~~ )

  
Also bad news: Sasai had recently broken up with his ex-girlfriend, who had gotten back together with her old ex-boyfriend. This is relevant, only because Ichigo, unfortunately, looks like a potential lovechild of Sasai's ex and her ex-lover.  
  
Also, also bad news: Sasai's been on one hell of a bender since he 'recently', read: almost two weeks past, broke up with his girlfriend. I will give him that, the man's not thinking straight, but that is no excuse for what follows.

  
  


  
Ichigo is ( _still_ ) enjoying his day off, when a scruffy man stumbles out of an alley, sees him, and thinks 1) kid, easy target, maybe I'll get away with a theft, y'know, second times the charm*; and 2) he looks like that bitch who broke my heart and her pet asshole who broke my nose. Then Sasai, the scruffy, still drunk, man ceases thinking with the sentiment ( ~~ _but not in the word choice_~~ ): ' _I should make her pay for my hurts_ '.

Ichigo is (still) enjoying his day off when he's accosted by a scruffy man, with bloodshot eyes, who reeks of old alcohol and misery. The man stumbles his way over to Ichigo who doesn't see him approach.  
Ichigo feels a weight on his shoulder, the cold press of steel against his throat, and a bolt of panic lances through him.  
  
"Well lookie 'ere. Minami's brat, ain'tcha? Com'ere y'r good old uncle Susumu wants ta have a chat with ya."  
  
He hears the man say something absolutely incorrect, but Ichigo can't say anything, can't do anything but follow the man as he leads him away from the street.

The man releases him with a harsh shove, and he loses his balance but rights himself before he falls.  
  
As he turns to face the man- _Su-something, he said, didn't he? Not that it matters_ \- because you _**never**_ turn your back to a feral animal-

  
And he's met with a punch to the gut, and he chokes on an inhale.  
  
Ichigo doubles over, gasping and coughing, and he can't hear whatever Scruffy's saying over the blood pounding in his ears and his Zanpakuto flipping out. _Again, it doesn't really matter to him_ -

Until it does.

That is, until Scruffy _digs_ his hand into Ichigo's hair and yanks. Hard.  
  
Ichigo knows the sound he made was inhuman, knows there are tears of pain and helpless anger in his eyes, and that it sets his partners off even more, _if he could only focus_ -  
  
  


Scruffy looks like he could spit tacks, and doesn't hesitate to spew his misplaced vitriol.  
  
"Lissen 'ere, you-" He hiccups, but punctuates his statement with another hard pull to Ichigo's hair.

"Ya lit'le pissant, ya shoul' lissen t' yer elders. Didn' tha bitch ya call yer m'ther teach you bet'er?"

There's an audible snap that echoes around the alley.   
  
It stops Scruffy in his tracks.  
  
And Ichigo stares at the man, balefully, brown eyes bleeding into black and glowing gold.  
  


~~\-------  
  
~~

It's not exactly a big alley, but it isn't small either. It's big enough that a delivery vehicle could fit into it without fear of property damage.  
  
It's important to note this, because at the sound of that snap, five men just appear out of thin air, about a foot and a half away from Ichigo and Sasai.  
  
And they're glaring death on the man that dared to touch their King.

It's quiet for a moment more.

A moment, and no longer.

Zangetsu-the-hollow, cracks his knuckles, rolls his neck, his shoulders, and smirks.  
  
Muramasa smiles, and it's not a nice smile.  
  
Murciélago gives a feral look to the moron that put the hurt onto Ichigo.  
  
Kyoka Suigetsu tilts their head to the side, clearly contemplating the ways to.. _dispose_.. of the scum that dared to hurt Ichigo.  
  
Zangetsu-no-ossan stares down at the man, and quick as a whipcrack, seizes the hand that's still tangled in Ichigo's hair, and _squeezes_.

( _Sasai Susumu, as addled as he is by the alcohol, drugs and general misery in his life, has the presence of mind to register that he had just made a mistake._

 _A very big mistake._ )


	3. iii. #itsnotvigilantismifitsselfdefense

iii.

( _So that thing about Sasai being a pickpocket, and that whole 'second try's the charm' thing...._ )  
  


* * *

  
See, it's a beautiful day, and Shinso Hitoshi's going to enjoy it. Well, a cup of coffee at the very least.

  
He doesn't notice the staggering man behind him, reaching out to try to steal something from him.

He does notice when, at the next intersection, a villain reaches out and snags him.  
  
  
(This one is one that the Underground Hero Eraserhead has been tailing for the last few days.)  
  
They're shaking and off of their game, and they don't know that Eraserhead is a block ahead of them-

He has the villain captured and Hitoshi free before he can really process what the hell just happened.

~~\-------~~

When he and Eraserhead are walking back towards a police station, which Hitoshi had passed on his way, out of his periphery he sees a guy drag an orange-haired kid into an alley.  
  
He wants to keep his head down, keep walking and refusing to get involved.  
  
  
But he doesn't. His feet make a choice for him.  
  
  
So he stops, turns abruptly and dashes back towards the alley.  
  


Eraserhead curses softly, and follows, quickly outpacing Hitoshi, and the pair are soon across the street.  
  


~~\-------~~

When they get to the alley, Hitoshi's not sure what he expects, the kid hurt in some way, and the creep doing things to them, maybe?  
  
(It certainly isn't what he ends up seeing, that's for sure.)  
  
The kid, the boy, is bent double and leaning against an older-looking man with a long coat and sunglasses. The man with him is staring death at the guy that dragged him into the alley, and he isn't the only one.

  
There's a masked person in elaborate robes and a man wearing a fur-lined cloak, radiating contempt, from where they stand between the old man and the child, and the curbstomping.

There's a wild man dressed in white, with green eyes, holding the unkempt man's arms behind his back and glaring at him all the while.

There's a man that exudes a feral unhingedness, holding onto the probably-creep's collar.

That's not the thing that stands out most about him though, no.

  
What stands out most about the man who just punched his immobilized target, is that he looked like an uncoloured picture.

Pure white skin, pure white hair, equally monochrome clothing.

  
  
It's an interesting tableau, one that's probably going to haunt Hitoshi for a while.  
  
  
But, just as the white-marble-statue-come-to-life winds up for another punch, the boy calls out, voice strained.  
  
  
"Zangetsu, that's enough."

It's then, that the man appellated Zangetsu turns, not seeing Eraserhead or himself, and Hitoshi jumps in his skin. The man is wild-eyed, and his having black sclera and bright gold irises _really_ doesn't help.  
  


" **He hurt you, King, and I _refuse_ to let him go without a little payback first.**"

This man, he looks like a demon come to Earth, and it leaves Hitoshi scared to know about what happened.


End file.
